1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a power distribution architecture and to such architecture where the power converter, or voltage regulation module (VRM), is mounted adjacent to a heatsink which cools an electronic device (such as a microprocessor) and where the VRM is interconnected electrically to the device package itself either directly or indirectly.
2. Description of the Related Art
High performance electronics today are demanding higher performance and lower cost power delivery than in previous years. As an example, high performance microprocessors are forcing power converters to supply voltages at 1V and below and deliver power over 100W. This translates to delivered currents in excess of 100 amps. Moreover, the small space allocated on mother boards and other printed circuit boards, along with the thermal considerations at the system level, require the voltage regulators to be highly efficient, have low noise, have low interconnect paths, and maintain very small form factors. This trend is creating new problems and challenges in power conversion technology and in packaging architectures for the VRM and microprocessors.
Today, there are numerous methods by which power is delivered to a high performance electronic device, such as a microprocessor. Typically, the power has been brought through the main board or mother board of the system, through the device socket and then into the microprocessor itself. Though this has been effective for many generations of microprocessors and high performance electronic devices it has its drawbacks. The voltage regulator components typically take up much real-estate on the mother board. Due to routing constraints the power is typically bused through only one side of the device and through a limited number of power/ground plane pairs. This results in not only a high DC resistance path but also a relatively high inductive path which increases AC and DC losses and can disrupt power delivery to the device itself.
Other approaches have removed this burden of busing power through the mother board by bringing power to one side of the substrate through an edge-card type connection or powerpod interconnect. This architecture bypasses the mother board and supplies power directly into the side of the substrate or interposer of the device. However, this approach is relatively expensive due to the complexity of the substrate design and the power module mechanical construction.
Another approach has been to bring power directly to the surface of the microprocessor through a z-axis power delivery approach. In this architecture, power is integrated with the thermal solution and is directly attached to the device package through a disconnectable interconnect. However, the VRM is oriented horizontal and is located above and over the device package. The power interconnection is made to the device package substrate surface on one or more sides. Thus, this architecture is somewhat integrated with the thermal solution of the device package. Though this may be desirable in many cases, in some designs where one wishes to disconnect the VRM without disrupting the thermal solution to the device package, an alternative approach is needed.